


Concealed

by MorganaNK



Category: Inspector Lynley - All Media Types, Inspector Lynley Mysteries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-08
Updated: 2016-10-08
Packaged: 2018-08-20 07:14:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8240881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorganaNK/pseuds/MorganaNK
Summary: Future fic that was inspired by the TV Tropes page for Know Thine Enemy - specifically the section 'Mysterious Past'.  What if Barbara did have something in her past that she had never shared with anyone?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Property of Elizabeth George and the BBC, no copyright infringement intended

Barbara had been quiet all day. I hadn’t commented on it; I knew from experience that it was better not to. All I could do was act as if nothing was different and wait until she was ready to share whatever it was that was on her mind.

We had been together as a couple for six months, and living together for five of those. Our lives had meshed together almost seamlessly, and I couldn’t remember a time when I had been as happy as I was with her. We still fought like cat and dog at work, but we never went to bed on an argument. 

“Tommy, do you mind if we don’t go to the pub with Winston and Stuart tonight?”

I looked up from the file I was reading and smiled at her. “Of course not; is there something that you would rather do, or would you just like to go home and I’ll cook us something?”

“You really don’t mind?”

“I really don’t mind. I’d much rather be alone with you at home than in the tacky meat market that Nkata and Lafferty have the gall to call a decent pub!”

Barbara reached across the desk and squeezed my hand. “You are such a snob Thomas Lynley, but I do love you.”

~*~

“I’m sorry I’ve been so difficult today Tommy, but I want you to know that it isn’t anything you’ve done.”

I rolled onto my side and faced her. “I accept your apology, but there is no need for one. I can tell that you have something on your mind, and if you want to talk about it then I am here, and if you don’t want to talk about then I am still here.”

“I really don’t deserve you.”

I brushed my thumb over her lips before stroking her cheek tenderly.

“You do. You’ve picked me up and carried me so many times, even when I was a complete ass. I may have let you down previously but I hope you know now that I will always be here for you Barbara.”

She placed her hand over mine and then swallowed deeply. “I really want this, us, to work, and for that to happen, well I don’t want to have any secrets from you.”

I waited, not wanting to interrupt her.

“Do you remember the argument we had during the Thompson case when I told you that you didn’t understand the fear and isolation? Did you ever wonder why I was taken in by Tania?”

“We were both angry and frustrated…”

“It was more than that. I believed Tania because I had been where I thought she was. When it was happening to me I didn’t have the courage to say anything; I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing when I thought it was happening to someone else.”

I pushed myself up on one elbow and stared at her, not quite able to comprehend what she was saying. Finally, I found my voice.

“Was it Azhar? Or was it one of the men you met through the dating agency?”

“No, and who it was doesn’t matter.”

“How can you say that it doesn’t matter? You were a victim of domestic abuse; of course it matters!”

“Tommy, please.” There were tears in Barbara’s eyes. I pulled her to me and cradled her head against my chest.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, I’m sorry, forgive me.” Her tears branded my skin, and I hated that I had caused them. I stroked her hair and murmured soothing nonsense in her ear. Eventually she raised her face and looked at me. I wiped her tears away with my thumbs.

“It was before we met. I was juggling looking after my parents with studying and then working. He made me feel that he was doing me a favour, that I wouldn’t get anyone better. I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t have anyone to tell; mum and dad weren’t remotely interested in anything I did, I didn’t have any friends, and work colleagues were just that. He didn’t beat me, but he verbally abused me and belittled me at every opportunity, and I accepted the way he treated me because he was the first and only person who ever showed any interest in me back then. I didn’t feel I deserved anything better. I was just doing my best to hold myself and my life together. In the end he told me that he was bored of me and he dumped me. You are the first person I have ever told, the first person I have ever said the words to. Knowing you, working with you, being friends with you, being loved by you, you’ve made me believe that I am worth so much more than that, so thank you.”

I rolled us so that Barbara was on her back and I was on top of her. I cradled her face between my hands and kissed her.

“You never cease to amaze me. After everything that you have been through; you are such a strong person and you have such a giving heart. Thank you for trusting me and sharing this with me. I am so lucky to have you in my life. I love you so much.”

“It’s me that’s the lucky one. I love you too.”

I sank into her warmth as her arms came around me and we became lost in each other for the rest of the night.


End file.
